Alan Wake's American Nightmare (2012) (PC) (Remedy Entertainment)
0I bought Alan Wake's downloadable spin-off American Nightmare as soon as it came out on PC (pleasantly enough just a few months after the original Xbox release) but until now I've only played the first 30 minutes or so. The new Twilight Zone-inspired, alternate reality/dream world setting is certainly interesting and presented in a nicely stylized manner, but one of the original game's selling points was of course its meticulous recreation of small town America and that entailed a level of realism as well as thematic consistency which American Nightmare ultimately lacks.
More importantly, AN is more action-heavy than AW and that's not necessarily a good thing since the shallow and repetitive combat is still a serious weakness of the gameplay formula, which is at its best when the player is simply exploring the surroundings and taking in the mood. The new release has also been criticized for rehashing content - Groundhog Day-style - in order to artifically extend the length of the game. The writing and dialogue sadly remains pretty mediocre - which is ironic given that the protagonist himself is supposed to be a novelist - but I do appreciate the series' continued use of FMV sequences and Matthew Porretta puts in a fine, energetic performance in his dual roles as Alan Wake and Alan's evil twin incarnation "Mr Scratch"...